1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power management application for a computer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer power management utility that assists a user in adjusting computer hardware performance levels to increase the life of an attached battery and ensure that software applications run at desired performance levels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Notebook computers are typically powered by batteries that are removably connected to the computer. The charged life of a computer battery typically ranges from one hour to several hours. A computer battery usually has an interface that can be plugged into an electrical outlet, allowing a user to re-charge the battery after the battery charge is spent. It is highly desirable to maximize the battery's charged life in order to increase the amount of time that the computer may be operated without a recharge and to reduce the number of times a user is required to recharge the battery.
The hardware devices on the computer directly affect the charged life of a battery. If a battery is required to power a greater number of hardware devices on the computer, the battery charge is consumed at a higher rate, resulting in a reduced charged life. Furthermore, the higher the performance settings of the particular hardware devices, the greater the demands on the battery so that the battery charge is consumed quickly. Factors such as maximum allowable display brightness, CPU processor speed, and hard drive access speeds all affect the rate at which battery power is consumed. Hence, if all hardware devices on the computer are performing at maximum levels, the battery charge is consumed faster than if the hardware is performing at relatively reduced levels.
Consequently, many battery-powered computers include a power management utility program that allows the user to manually adjust and set the performance levels of various hardware devices on the computer in order to maximize the computer battery life. For instance, a power management utility program may allow the user to reduce the computer processor speed so that the processor uses less power, thereby extending the charged life of the battery. Maximum display brightness and hard disk spin down time are examples of other hardware settings that may be adjusted in a typical power management utility.
Unfortunately, the computer user pays a price for extending the charge time of the battery. While reducing the performance levels of the various hardware devices on a computer will maximize battery life, it is done at the cost of reducing the performance of software application programs that are run on the computer. Many software applications require minimum levels of hardware performance. In particular, many software applications may run too slowly or may not even run at all if the hardware performance is set below a certain level.
In many instances, a user may not be bothered if the performance of a software application is reduced. For instance, if a user is simply reviewing a text or data file in a wordprocessing program, the user may not require high speed performance out of the processor and may simply desire to maximize the battery life. The user may not mind if the application does not perform at its maximum level, as extending battery life is the main concern. In other instances, such as when playing computer games, the user may place a higher emphasis on the performance of the software rather than on extending the battery life. In any event, the user of a battery-powered computer usually desires to set the hardware such that software performance and battery life are both optimized.
Unfortunately, current power management utility programs do not offer a user a way of assessing the impact of the hardware power settings on software performance. Consequently, when using a power management utility, the user is often reduced to guessing whether the current power settings will adversely impact the performance of software applications on the computer. The user may set the hardware performance levels too high for the particular software that will be used so that battery life is not optimized. This is an inefficient use of the battery and shortens the available life of the battery. Alternatively, the user may set the hardware performance levels too low so that when the user attempts to run an application program, the application runs poorly. The user is then required to exit the application, run the power management utility again, and raise the hardware performance settings. This process is very inefficient.
Hence, there is a need for a computer system that incorporates a power management utility program or process that assists a user in optimizing the hardware performance settings to maximize both battery life and software performance. Preferably, the utility will dynamically notify the user, as the user is adjusting the power settings, whether the performance of any applications loaded on the computer will be adversely affected by the current settings. This will allow the user to tailor the hardware settings to his or her particular requirements.